Hi All
I think there must be a smarter way to do it?
I have a soundcard Edirol FA-66, where the output signal to the monitors and headphone are not separated. This means that when I want to listen to headphones without getting the sound from the monitors, I have to switch off the active monitors. I can choose to use outputs 3/4 to the headphone, but in that case I can only get a mono signal, and also I need to use the mixer fader to adjust the sound.
Hope that makes sense.
Can it be done smarter (rather than turning off the monitors that is)
Thanks
 
Jan
 

Hi Jan
 
That interface has 4 outputs. You probably take two outputs into your monitors. That leaves you two more. You could route the second set of outputs into a headphone amplifier. Depending on what you have you can send to many sets of headphones or simply one set.
 
 If Edirol has a software mixer you might be able to make a work around with that. Many sound card mixers have features that let you seperate the outputs in the box. 

Thanks for reply Starise.
Yes, I guess it must be THE way to do it (buying an heradphone amp), I have kind of hoped there was a way to save the extra outputs to other purposes. 
 
// Jan
 

You can get a headphones amp or this: http://www.tcelectronic.com/level-pilot/
                                                        http://www.amazon.com/TC-Electronic-Level-Pilot-Computer-Independent/dp/B001PGMNRG
 
Getting that would allow you to have individual volume control for headphones and nearfield monitors. When you want to listen to just the headphones, just turn down the volume of the monitors using the level pilot. And you can save your other output pair for whatever else you want to use it for.
 
The TC Electronic link has a video near the bottom of the page which explains its use, how to connect it, and its value.
 
You decide if it's worth the price. It appears you will need 4 more cables to connect it using your audio interface.
 
Hope that helps.

The Behringer "minimon" looks like it would do the trick.
http://www.sweetwater.com...sMiJ5bwCFZLm7AodN3sAhg

So because the interface is missing a common feature you have to spend more money now. So this is a reminder to folks who are shopping for an audio interface to make sure the one you are purchasing has all the features your going to need. Most interfaces have both a headphone and a Monitor volume control. I wonder why this one doesn't?  To me it's a must have feature. 
Another solution would be to use a small mixer for monitor control. For the money they are pretty handy to have around. 
 

Hi
Thanks for taking your time to reply. Some interesting headphone amp solutions.
Cactus Music, I guess I`ve learned a lesson :) 
 
Thanks, Jan  

I have a Mackie Big Knob. It's great for that.

why can't you put your monitors on an easy to reach power strip, with an on/off switch...or makes something a little more fancy...like a $.33 wall switch, that controls the power to your {active ?..right) monitors..... or monitor power amp.

Of course there are many ways to approach it, including turning on and off power on various pieces, or using a mixer, or having a good audio interface with some software routing that allows some software switches to be available on your PC screen.

After years of knowing about it and thinking "some day" I ended up finally getting a Big Knob. It's excellent. It handles switching around from four different input sources and routing out to three different monitor sets, plus routing for 2 headphones and even a mic and talk back feature if you someone recording with mics in a booth.

Anyway, the question was posed if there was a solution, and I'm just giving a thumbs up to the Big Knob which does that really well.